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Systems thinking has several threads, and multiple origins (like any good idea, it keeps getting re-discovered). A Canadian biologist/philosopher Ludwig von Bertalanffy wrote one of the most influential books on systems thinking, "General Systems Theory: Foundations, Development, Applications". Systems theory focusses on Open, Complex, Developing systems.

By Open, we mean the systems are not isolated, but there are flows of energy into and out of the system .... and there is friction, i.e. the systems are dissipative, or less than maximally efficient.

By Complex, we mean the systems have multiple parts, exist at multiple scales of observation and interaction. As such, we can not comprehend, or manage them via a single model -- but need to develop multiple models of the system.

By Developing we mean the systems are changing. Actually we mean more than that. We can model the arc of a base-ball via a dynamic equation. This is an equation that would tell us how the trajectory of the baseball as a model where time is on one axis, and the baseball's position is on another. It assumes everything else is being held constant -- gravity, wind-speed, the size and weight of the baseball. The equation "governing" the motion of the baseball is assumed to be the same from when it leaves the pitcher's hand to when it whizzes by the batter. However, what if not only the position of the ball is changing over time, but the equation defining it's motion is changing. Well ... that's a different ball game. But it's one a natural resource manager has to deal with all the time. Indeed we have a common forestry word for it -- Succession.

You can find out more about general systems theory at:

http://www.bsn-gn.eku.edu/BEGLEY/GSThand1.htm

A very nice mind-map to how systems theory is being used in both business and science is available at:

http://www.systems-thinking.de/

The UR-Wiki also has a link to Systems Thinking:

http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?SystemsThinking

-- MishtuBanerjee - 28 Aug 2004
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